Yarn Users Club

OK, so I haven't been very faithful about writing new blogs, sorry but time goes faster when one is old. Ha ha. The meetings with weavers and others have not been well attended but those who do
come bring great projects to share. This Wednesday at one we will meet at our condo in the
Villas at Riverbend. Our address is 204 Stonebend Dr. and it is just north of Panera, Home Depot, Rite Rug, then turn left at Goddard School. You will see the condos just ahead on the right. Go right around the circle to "one-o-clock" and turn into drive. Park in front of the garage. If you have questions call 740-549-4016. If you are allergic to cats there may be a problem since we have two. Hope to see you here, Elaine

Is it Spring?

Good morning, what a beautiful day it is to be. I have enoyed the snow(of course, I am inside most of the time)but warm is nice. I have had to cancel a couple of the YUC meetings because of the tricky parking at Panera,s but yesterday was fine. Lee and Carol C. came and we had a good time talking and doing a little knitting, crocheting and weaving. We were each doing something different. Doreen even showed up outside, her sister had her out trying her driving skills. This was the first time she had been behind the wheel for over a year. I look forward to being the passenger again.

My life has changed so much since we no longer have the shop. Doreen and I are busy but it is different. She is doing a lot of her exercises and becoming more in-dependent all the time. She is doing more knitting than ever but mainly she is trying to find a job. This is high on her list. I have done weaving but the afghan is slowly getting done. I get distracted with the daily stuff and being the only driver. It is fun to go with Doreen when she goes for pt and I have decided to get a new doctor at the same place. Are you aware of the OSU Medical facility in Lewis Center? It is in the same area as the new Kroger, off route 23. They have all types of services for one,s health.

The YUC meetings during the day will be on Wednesdays instead of Tuesday. There was a conflict with another group. We will meet 1 to 3 on the first and third Wed. The evening meetings are still the second and fourth Wed. at 6 to 8. I would love to see any "yarn user" there. The more the merrier.

I would love to hear from you and know what you are working on. My email address is: dgrener@insight.rr.com. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Looms are still available on ebay but prices are still up. We are hopeful that new ones will be for sale in the near future but prices are not known yet or even where to get them. Just rumours. Keep watching for more news.

Well, it is time to do a little work here and get ready to go to Bible study. I haven't been able to go for the past year and look forward to being able to again. Also, this evening I will being playing bridge. I hope I remember how. I follow the hands in the paper and maybe that will be enough. But always remember to smile. Others need our smiles to give them evidence that they matter. We all need to know that we are worth someone's notice, a smile does it. Love to all of you and God Bless Us All. Elaine

WEAVERS UNITED "YUC" MEETINGS

HELLO AGAIN, I KNOW THAT IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I LAST WROTE ON MY BLOG BUT LIFE HAPPENS AND TIME FLIES. LAST NIGHT A FEW OF US, DEDICATEPMPD YARN USERS MET AT PANERA HERE IN LEWIS CENTER IN SPITE O SNOW AND COLD. GINA ASTOUNDED US WITH HER COLLECTION OF PIECES FOR A LACEY SHAWL, CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR 2011. REBBECA'S STASH OF PIECES THAT SHE HASN'T YET DECIDED WHAT TO DO WITH. DANNA IS JUST BEGINNING TO WEAVE AND WE WORKED ON HER BEING A BIT LOOSER AND PAT WHO SAT THERE AND CROCHETED A GREAT SCARF FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS. SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? MORE MEETINGS, OF COURSE. REMEMBER THAT THIS INCLUDES ANY OF YOU WHO KNIT AND CROCHET AS WELL AS THOSE OF US WHO WEAVE, WE ARE NOT EXCLUSIVE AS TO HOW YOU USE THE YARN. YOU COULD EVEN TAT OR WHATEVER.

WE ARE NOW KNOWN AS THE YARN USERS CLUB AND WE WILL HEAD THE BLOG AS THE YUC MEETINGS. THAT IS WHAT PANERA KNOWS US AS. I HAVE A SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY AND FEBRUARY AS FOLLOWS:
EVENINGS WILL BE 2ND AND 4TH WEDNESDAYS 6-8 PM EXCEPT 2/23 5-7 PM
DAYTIMES WILL BE 1ST AND 3RD TUESDAYS 1-3 PM
HOPEFULLY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN US.

SOME OF YOU ARE STILL TRYING TO GET LOOMS. DOREEN HAS BEEN ABLE TO GET A COUPLE ON EBAY AND I WILL HAVE THEM AT THE MEETINGS FOR SALE. I ALSO HAVE A FEW OF THE LONG NEEDLES FOR YOU.

I HAVE HAD REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE TEXTURE PATTERNS AND WHEN WE GET OUR COPIER SET UP I WILL PRINT SOME OFF. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ON WEAVING A PARTICULAR ITEM PLEASE LET ME KNOW BEFORE THE MEETING DATE SO THAT I MIGHT HAVE IT WITH ME.

YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH MY BLOG AND I WILL TRY TO GET BACK TO YOU WITHIN A DAY OR TWO. REMEMBER TO KEEP SMILING, THE WORLD NEEDS OUR LOVE AND WE BEST SHOW IT BY OUR CONCERN FOR OTHERS. SEE YOU AT THE "YUC" MEETINGS. ELAINE

Here I am again, at last

Yes, I am still here and still doing some weaving. It was a great thing to be doing at Riverside for eight hours while Doreen was having back surgery two weeks ago. Much better than trying to read. She is now in Rehab and hopefully walking again by the end of the summer. I am looking forward to having her back(pun) in the shop.

So what am I weaving? Not a great deal, too busy, but I did start a couple of afghans. One uses the four by six loom, five colors of yarn, and several textural patterns. The other has four by four pieces surrounded by two by six pieces. This makes a pattern that has a quilt look. Quite nice.

The most satisfying creation was inspired by a shawl that won 'best of show' in the Handwoven May/June 2010 issue. It is called Spanish Moss Shawl and is very lovely. The square pieces are joined by crochet. I used a skein of Jojoland Tokyo, a lovely yarn, which I joined my way since I do not crochet. I did it more loosely than normal and the shawl drapes softly and looks great.

My supply of looms is low but I have two of the bakelite four by four looms which sell for $75. Doreen is bidding on more looms for me and the molded plastic four by four looms will sell here for $60. We still are able to get a limited number of the rectangle looms and all three sizes sell for $45 each. The textural pattern books also sell for $45. For a time I had trouble with the way the price has gone up but then I thought of the money women have invested in all the sizes of needles they 'need' and decided that looms were not all that pricey. A weaver could get along with just one size loom though havin all five is nice. I know..

I would love to see you and your woven items. Come in and sit and share. Keep a smile on your face and love in your heart. God Bless Us All. Elaine

Spring

The weather this week is supposed to be very "spring like" and I can go for that. I really like the snow but enough is enough. Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day and I want to get some pansies for the store. They are my favorite flower. Doreen usually puts them in the ground at the condo but they will be in pots out here. Speaking of Doreen, she is making progress slowly but we are encouraged that within the month she will be up and going. It has been a long, hard struggle with more than a few set-backs. Would like to have her here for our second year anniversary in April.

Did you see the new issue of PieceWork? There is an afghan on the cover with a four-by-four Weave-it loom. What a surprise! Inside there was an article by Robin Hansen
that told the story of the looms and also gave the directions for warping and weaving and some info on the looms themselves. She told of speaking to Licia Conforti who brought the looms back into use but has now got out of the business, Buxton Brooks, which she had started. It is too bad that she is not providing the looms any more because I am running out. You can still get them through ebay but the price has gone through the roof since the magazine came out. I hope that within a couple weeks they will come down to a reasonable price. I no longer have any two-by-two looms to sell, just my own that you can use here at the shop if you need a few to complete a pattern. They go very fast.

I am trying to finish a cover for a laptop computer. It is very pretty but one of my "weavers" brought hers in the other day and I was blown away. It is extra-ordinary in color and interest. She even wove in some silver thread to add some more sparkle. I would like to take a picture of it to show you. I will not be putting pictures on the blog until Doreen is back in the shop to do it for me..

Time to get busy, the plants need to be watered and the trash needs to be taken out, and I may leave the door open for a while if it is warm enough. Be of good cheer and keep smiling, the world needs our smiling faces. As always, Elaine

It has been soooo long

I know, I know, January is almost gone and I have not given you any advice. Before I go further, I am truly sorry but things have been a little complicated around here. Doreen has had a lot of trouble with her right knee and can not have surgery until the 12th of February therefore I have not been able to do all the things I normally do here at the shop. We have had so many good friends help me out with their coming in and giving knitting advice when neither Linda nor Lynne are working. They have made it all possible for the store to keep open during this period of time. My family have been very helpful with careing for Doreen while I am at the shop. Hopefully a month from now will find us back on track at home and in the shop.

I have been doing some weaving with the acrylic yarn we carry and I have a baby afghan done enough for you to see how it weaves. I am also using it for a piece of cloth that could be used as a placemat or even to be made into a purse. It is fine to weave with and the textural pattern, sunken diamond, is very pretty. I am going to use it for a rubic cube purse. It is a neat pattern. Will have it pictured on the next blog.

My thoughts of late are centered on Doreen and her pain and inability to get around. It would be great if she could get up and work on the computer or even be able to knit, it just isn't happening. The pain and frustrations are so bad that she even does not sleep well which of course, leads to more of the same. Keep us in your prayers and thoughts. I still keep smiling and hoping that the days go swiftly. Come in to visit and show me what you are weaving. Love to you all, Elaine

A snowy Christmas? Maybe!

How fast time flies when one is having fun. An old saying but I find it very true in my life. This month has been made even more busy since Doreen has experienced trouble with her "good" knee. She will have replacement surgery in January and then she will have two artificial knees, just like her mother. At least it doesn't keep us from doing knitting and weaving. And now to the weaving. As some of you are aware I really enjoy doing purses when I can felt the product. There are several that I feel are unique and some of you wanted to do a purse of your own. Therefore, in January I will be holding a class or two to teach you how to put your woven pieces together to create your purses. I will have the patterns for you and will help you assemble them. If you can get into the shop early in the month I can help you select the yarn and pattern you will use. I hope to have the samples for you to see. Most of the purses will require thirty-two to forty pieces woven of 100% wool.

I plan to be in Cincinnati over Christmas weekend and on Saturday will even be by myself in the hotel until David's family get there in the evening. Hopefully I should be able to work on the purses. Doreen is not going because she can not ride in a car that far so she will be by herself though Denise and family and friends will keep her out of trouble. A different kind of vacation for each of us.

If you want to see a recent picture of me go to google at a tangled tale llc on this weeknews.com. This appeared just last week as you can see. It was totally unexpected and much appreciated. Free publicity is always good.

Well, the end of the year is close at hand and we can only pray that 2010 will bring some good news for those who need jobs and health care. May those who have been given the power to bring this about be wise in doing so. We pray also for those who are in other countries trying to end strife there. Are we as a country able to do this, only time will tell. I really doubt if there will ever be peace among the nations of that area of the world during my lifetime but can continue to pray for those who are serving there. And though we know that the poor and needy will aleays be among us, we also know that it is within our power to help alleviate their need. So as we do for our family and friends here at the Christmas season let us also give to those who are without the necessities that we take for granted. Love all of God's creation and those who dwell therein. Pray for peace and keep smiling. A smile is a simple way to pass God's love to others. Elaine :)

Almost Christmas!!!

What a beautiful December morning, the sun is shining and the air is crisp. I really do like this time of the year and look forward to the snow falling outside the window and the fire glowing in the fireplace. I can wax poetic about the winter weather but also realize that there are many who are not as fortunate. Thankfully we live in a community that has many groups who are trying to help these folks. As knitters, etc. we are able to see that some of the needs are met. We have sent off the scarves and more are still coming in. We were gifted with some knitted table skirts used last year by Starbucks and though they did not fit into our scheme of decorating they have made lovely afghans by taking out the elastic strips that held them in gathers.

Wonderful news: I now have three lovely Bakelite four-by-four looms on hand. They are a little more expensive than the other vintage looms. We are selling them for $45.00 and the others go for $30. We also have a good supply of two-by-two and the new rectangular looms. The books of textual patterns are still not coming but I can provide you with some copies of the patterns for your four-by-four looms. These are from the old booklets and loom kits.


The first picture is of the purse I had been working on for a couple of weeks and was pictured in the last blog. It is now felted and grommets added to allow for the braided handle. It is a nice size and easy to carry. Do you like it?

The next two pictures are of another purse made using the Paint Box yarn. I have used it before for felting and like the soft finish it acquires from felting.
I have planned to line it and hopefully will dig out my sewing machine and proceed to do so this week. My sewing machine was a Christmas present from my husband the year Doreen was born so you know how old it is. Hopefully it stills works, haven't tried it since I moved down this way.


One of our customers brought in an afghan that was in her family to show us. It is lovely and has held up quite well. What a great heirloom to find and I am glad that she brought it to share with us. I really like the idea of you sharing your projects with me just as I share mine with you.









Do not allow yourself to get too tired or frustrated this month. Share your love and give only what you are comfortable doing of material things. Hey, bake some cookies and take to the neighbors or shut ins. But always, remember to smile. Elaine

Is this November?

Another beautiful morning in Powell Ohio. Do I sound just a little bit like Mr. Rogers? A friend called earlier and said that I had a lilt to my voice, oh well, maybe the Maxwell House coffee had a special zing today.

I had told you of the bag I was weaving from a knitting pattern found in the Summer issue of Knits. I now have three pictures to share with you; the first is after the squares have been joined according to the diagram,








the second shows the bag assembled but before felting

and the last is after the felting.
I still need to decide on how I want to put on handles or possibly run leather cord for closing it and providing handles. Let you see it really finished the next time.

Doreen and I have held out long enough, we are finally going to carry a yarn comparable to Encore. We had not wanted to get involved with acrylic yarn but many want to be able to use it for washable items that will withstand washing and take little care. To answer the need we will have Universal's Classic Worsted. It should weave very nice baby afghans and ones to send along to college and will receive rougher wear. The feel is soft and nice and the colors are yummy. It will sell for $5.75 and has almost 200 yards. Think twenty-five square four by four pieces or eighteen four by six pieces. Three or four balls would make a nice sized baby afghan or lap throw. To compare the yarn content; Encore is 75/25 and Classic Worsted is 80/20, the first number is the percentage of acrylic and the second is wool. I will be weaving some soon and report back.

Speaking of reporting, one of my weavers was taken with the reversible purse I had done and made one of her own which she shared with us recently.

The pictures show what she has done. Both sides turned out so very nice.By the way, she is a senior at OSU and really likes the looms. We do enjoy having this group of young women from OSU drop in on Sunday afternoons and share their time and talent with us. Maybe they will let me take a picture of the group the next time they are here.

I do not usually expound on my political views but this morning the column by Cal Thomas spoke to my feelings. The last three paragraphs make sense to me, see if you agree, but then you have the right to disagree if you wish. So if I say Merry Christmas to you it is because I believe that the birth of Christ was important and needs to be celebrated. Even if we have different beliefs we want to share the love that this time brought into the world and as Sandra Bullock has said, "The important thing is 'world peace'." Enjoy the weekend, "go Bucks", and smile a lot, it makes you look younger.

Love and peace, Elaine

A yarn to weave

No, I am not going to weave a story, rather I will tell you about yarns that we can weave with on our handheld looms. Some of the yarns work so much better than others and I have tried many of the ones we carry in the shop. There are some such as the Kertzer/Shepherds 100% wool that weaves very easily and felts so well too. We have at least fifty different colors from which to choose. I have used it for scarves and purses and plan to do an afghan in the near future.
The purse you see pictured here is made from this wool. This had started out as the "sheep" but I had become discouraged with it and converted it into this purse. Much better use of the squares. Love the colors in it.

The "life style" yarn is a merino superwash wool made in Germany. It would be great for baby afghans and scarves but will not felt. The colors are so pretty and we have quite a few of them. You would probably want to double it for making a scarf. It has one hundred seventy yards so you could get about twenty-one four by four inch pieces from it or fifteen of the four by six inch pieces.
This just came in recently and I have not used it yet but have used other of our merino superwash and liked it.


Another one that I have used and enjoyed working with is the New England Shetland yarn. The skein has two-hundred seventeen yards and is found to felt well. The colors are fibrant and deep and would work well in purses I double it also to weave.

The Paint Box is similar yarn but is multi-colored and gives some varied colored pieces from the same ball. It has approximately one hundred yards and also felts well. If the yarn feels a little harsh to you, soak the finished item over night in white vinegar and water, I used one to four ratio, and it does a great job. I did some Noro yarn and it soften up a great deal. Actually, if you are felting these yarns do not soften the item because the felting will soften it.

I love to weave and create using the multi-colored yarn.
The scarf lying on the basket of Ranco is an example. The yarn is found in our sock yarn collection but is so soft and fun to use. The content is wool and polyamide and can be washed and in cool water there should be no felting. After all, it is for knitting socks. There are three hundred seventy-five yards, so even when doubled you can get twenty-three pieces of four by four.


The Mochi Plus has been calling my name ever since it arrived in our shop. I have resisted it, not because it may not work but because I have too many other "yarns in the fire." Ha ha! It is sooo soft and really lovely multi-colored balls. It is machine washable, wool with nylon, and has ninety-five yards. It is bulky enough to weave single. I look forward to using it. Let me know if you are weaving with it and how you like it.

We have received some more of the four by four looms and a couple of the two by two. These are for sale though I will keep mine here in the shop for you to come in and use here for a few little pieces. I am making copies of some of the textural patterns found in old pattern books. I can not sell these but will give them to you since we not receiving the books which I have tried so hard to carry and the owner of Buxton Brooks is not coming through. Unfortunately, these I have available for you are for the four by four looms but you could incorporate them into the larger pieces. If you need help, I am here for you.

Halloween tonight, can Thanksgiving be far behind? I hope that you and your childre, or grandchildren do not get sick on the candy. Or from the flu that is around this year. Keep well and at peace with friends and family.
Love to all, Elaine

Starting the 83rd

There was a time when I thought that anyone who was eighty-two was old, but now I see it as an accomplishment. There are so many of us and the number is growing, even our children are getting "old." The last couple of years I was teaching at Donnell in Findlay I was the oldest one on the faculty, I was late fifties. But now I do not see age as an excuse to stop teaching, that is why I enjoy teaching you to use the handheld loom. I am even tutoring a seventh grader in algebra, what a joy.

Doreen gave me a Charley Harper jigsaw puzzle for my birthday and we will have it to work on here at the shop. The cats at home make it difficult to work on puzzles there. It is one of his famous ones of birds in flight, really lovely.


Enough about me. The sheep that I had started to construct of squares to copy an entralac pattern has presented more difficulties than I wish to deal with and so I am using that brown and black fabric to make a purse, what else? A friend brought a lovely entralac purse in last evening and gave me the inspiration to do it. You will see the finished product on the next blog.

That picture of a bunch of little things might give you ideas for gifts; pin cushions in shapes of humbugs or hearts, hearts used for sachets or little purses, or small purses for coins or phones or whatever. And of course there are always scarves. I am working on one now that is great. The sock yarn needs to be doubled but weaves very well and is so soft. You will see it next week also.

I finally put straps on the purse that goes with the felted hat I did several months back. I have included them both to show you how nice they are. The strap for the bag is a leather shoe string. I purchased a couple pair from Meijers and use one that picks up the yellow in the purse but I also got some brown ones to use sometime.
If you felt the purse, you can go ahead and punch holes in it where you want the straps and string them through. I used knitting needles to punch the holes.

We went for a ride this morning before coming into the shop. We went up along 315 then over to Riverside and down to Leatherlips Park before heading back to Powell. The color is so great this year and we saw some beautiful trees. God paints these lovely murals for us and we need to thank Him and sing praises. Go forth and spread His love to all you meet. Love to all. Elaine

October, the greatest month

Yes, I do like the Fall and the month of October the best. Maybe it is because I was born the middle of this month but I really think that the colors and smell of the month speak to me. There was even some frost on the grass this morning. And I could start to wear clothes that are favorites.


Notice that the purse I am showing has Fall colors and notice also that I even lined it. My first lined purse. I used two yarns, the wool and silk combo and a marled wool.
The Tibet yarn is a little difficult to weave because it catches on itself. I love the effect it gives and have used it for coasters. Makes great ones.
Here is an idea for Christmas presents, eight four by four pieces in pairs and felted. They make very good and pretty coasters. I included the picture of those also

I am showing you a series of five pieces that follow the way two different yarns can be woven to get different effects. In looking at them left to right: the first is totally the plain yarn; next I warped with it and then wove with the multi; the
middle one was warped twice with the plain and then finished warping and weaving with the multi; the fourth piece was warped with the multi and woven with the plain;

the final piece was all the multi. I find the different looks can be combined to make purses, scarves or whatever.

I just had a very pleasant hour with one of my "weavers" who has had a rough couple of months but is up and around now. She shared the afghan she has been working on and we discussed how she will complete it. It is made up of many colorful pieces and is quite beautiful. I ask her to share it with us when she finishes it. I love to see what each of you are accomplishing with your weaving.

It is so lovely outside, sun and clear sky. Take a walk, breathe in the fresh air and smile. We are so blessed, let us give thanks. Elaine

Just a little late

OK, I know, this was supposed to be posted last week but since we were going to the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs on Sunday, I decided to wait until today. So we went and did avoid the rain by going early and returning before it really started. We had a couple friends with us and it was fun to spend the time with them. The the "gathering" itself was nice but no weaving with small looms was being done. I had left mine in the car and wished that I had taken it in with me and sat and did it there. Saw some very lovely yarns and hope to be able to offer one of the hand dyed yarns here in the shop in a few weeks. Of course we had ice cream at Young's after our picnic lunch which was provided by one of the gals with us. Very good chicken salad sandwiches and ice tea was enjoyed. Doreen drove us and we did some sight seeing on the way home.

Time to talk weaving. The pieces shown here are to illustrate the use of two yarns. I like the results of using two but some yarns work together better than others. I have worked with these two yarns in several different ways. The yarns are Tibet, a 60% wool and 40% recycled silk, and the other is Sheep Shop, a 100% wool. The colors go so well together and they make a very nice fabric. I intend to make another purse and will picture it in a couple of weeks.

When I said "different ways" I was referring to how I used them for warping and weaving. One can be used for the warp and the other for the weft or use one for two of the warps and then continue finishing the warp and weaving with the other. I even warped one layer with one then continued the next two warpings with the other then go back to the first to weave.
Does that make sense to you? The drawback to doing this is that you are left with ends to be woven back in to neaten it up. The results will be to have slightly different looks and weights to the pieces. I also did some with a pattern of "furrows" from the book I am still trying to get back in stock. I have called this woman so many times that I feel like a stalker. Unfortunately, she is the only source for them.

The other picture that is included this week is a purse from some Noro yarn. I really love the variety of colors on the ball. When weaving with the four by four inch loom each piece seems to be a different color. Lynda had brought in a pair of handles that worked with the way I had put the pieces together. I wanted to make the bag larger but had lost the remainder of yarn I was using and hated to start on another ball. The purse could be turned inside out for a rougher look. It depends on the joining.
By the way, the joining I am using now for scarves is very fun and gives a very nice look. I haven't found it in any book so I guess I can claim it as mine. I have taught it to some of my weavers and they really like it. Easy to do.

Time to get this finished so Doreen can put the pictures on it. Come in to see me and show me what you are doing. Keep cheerful, smile a lot, love what you do and
show others that you care about them. God bless us all. Elaine

Weaving patterns

I promised you last time to show examples of the patterns that can be woven into the pieces on the loom. Several years ago Licia Conforti compiled a variety of patterns in a book called Modular Textures. It is a collection of patterns for the handheld looms she also sells. The patterns are given for each size of loom called Weavette or Weave-It and are fun to use.

I have had the book for sale but unless she gets my order sent to me I am out of stock. I have tried to get new ones since July but have not received them.. I would not be so enthusiastic about them if I did not think that they are great fun to work with.


The ones I have pictured are presented both with front and back views. Some of them look just as nice on the back as the front, I will let you be the judge. I also have woven just the top part of the four by six piece with the pattern and left the remainder with plain weave so you can see the difference and how they look side by side. I like combining the patterned pieces with the plain for contrast. Using two colors also looks nice, warping with one color then weaving with a second. It is fun to experiment.












As usual, I am finding new ways to make scarves, oh my, and a friend, Erin, showed me a pattern she graphed. She is very tech and used her computer to do it. I will show mine to you when I finish it. On this date fifty-seven years ago I gave birth to our first child, Doreen. How fortunate I am to have her lead me into working and playing with yarn. Since many of the ones in the shop, me included, have Fall birthdays we are setting aside the week of October 13th through the 18th for our Birthday Sale. Come in and see what we have put on sale and surely the books will be in by then.

A lot is going on in the sport world this weekend and at least around Columbus the weather is very, very nice for it. Hopefully, Tiger will continue to do well today and tomorrow and the OSU fans will wake up with smiles on their faces tomorrow. You keep a smile on your face always and make someone you meet a little happier too. God bless you and your loved ones. Elaine

Just a few more scarves

Okay, I promise this is the last of the scarves (at least for a little while)from the knitting patterns. The ones I did with inspiration from the knitting patterns are here presented: #1 is the one of joined squares at the corners and embellished with some of the vintage buttons we have on hand for sale. They were acquired from ebay, Lynne and Mary Lea, thanks to all. We are so blessed with generous friends. The yarn is so soft and easy to weave, it is Atacama and on sale at 40% off.

#2 is from a fine wool yarn called Kauni. It was doubled to warp and then that was doubled again to weave. A bit tricky but rather fun to do. Notice the subtle change from red to almost black. The pattern is the Tumbling Blocks from the knitted scarf book. It would be great to do in several colors of similar yarns you might have in your stash.

#'s 3 and 4 are made of some of the same yarn, the Vespera for the green and multi, but in the quilt-like squares I also used some Shepherds wool for the orange, tan and white. I do like to do the quilt blocks. The small start of a scarf is the zig-zag pattern I had told you of. It goes really very fast because the two by four pieces are fast to do. I may go ahead and finish that one some of the days.


Next week I plan to include some samples of the woven patterns made on the loom. The book should be back in stock by the end of next week or early the next. The supplier was not able to send them until after Labor Day. I can only hope that they will come then because four of you have already requested them. It is fun to weave in the patterns and the book provides the directions for all sizes of the looms.
Some of the old booklets that came with the four by four looms have the directions for a few of the patterns but only for the four by four looms. Bummer!
I wish that I could include directions on my blog but that would be illegal.

Next I am looking at the lovely Mini Mochi yarn, a merino wool and nylon combination used by knitters for socks but the color variation on the ball calls to me for something to weave, let's hope not another scarf but it would be beautiful. Oh well!

How blessed we have been with such wonderful weather, even for football and golf. I would like being out there for nine holes but would be good for only four or five and that is with riding a cart. I guess I can live vicariously through watching the guys on the PGA tour, especially Tiger. He isn't doing too well this weekend.

Again, let me say to you, God bless you with good health and enough yarn to help you rest and relax. Elaine

Let's rethink scarves

I have heard so many women say that they can knit only scarves, well so what? Yes, there are other lovely things out there to knit or crochet but let us be realistic here, scarves are fast and fun and wearable. So what does this have to do with weaving? Remember last week's posting where I showed you a picture of a knitted scarf that I thought could be made of woven pieces? I have worked on it and the result of my labor is pictured here.
As you can see it is only about fourteen inches long, hardly close to being finished but it is really very pretty. Will I finish it, yes, but not today

The other thing is that in a new knitting book called Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr there are several ones pictured that would be great worked up by weaving. One is reversible that would just require two long straight scarves in your school colors and the way they are joined makes the scarf. Of course, OSU colors would look fine in this area. Another is called Four-color scarf but is really just tumbling blocks and could be made up of any number of colors. We have some small balls of yarn, worsted wool, from Knitwhits that are forty-four yards and many dynamite colors. A few of these could make the scarf. Yesterday my friend Barb showed me another one in the book called Zigzag. It would use the two by four loom. All of these scarves encourage me to think that we need to look at knitting patterns to get our ideas.

The last picture is of the scarf I first showed you a couple of weeks ago. It is finished and I am quite proud of it. The yarn is the Vespera, a 100% wool that is nice to work with.
The blue/black was just a little too plain for me so I wove a very fine red yarn through in a few blocks. It does give just that perk it needed. Don't we all need a little perk?

My visit to Cincinnati was great fun: played Upwords with Dar and beat him twice, ate at the original Montgomery Inn and Arthurs, went shopping with Barb at a consignment shop and bought some lovelies, and of course stopped at Fiberlicious.
Then on Wednesday Barb and Denise exchanged me at Jeffersonville to return me to Columbus. It is always good to get home to Doreen and the shop. And yes, I did weave on the trip.

Summer is almost gone, kids back in school, county fairs in full swing and that trip to Yellow Springs for Youngs ice cream. Oh yes, the Wool Gathering is there too. We are planning to be closed on the 20th so we can go. It is fun. Maybe I will see you there and say, hi. Have a safe Labor Day weekend with family and friends. And my prayers are for your comings and goings, God bless us all. Elaine

It's that time again

I had not planned to document my week for you, but guess what, that is what I am doing. Yes, there has been a lot of weaving going on at our shop, and yes, I have led several more to the "dark" side. Along the way I feel that I have made several new friends. There was even a woman from Minnesota that bought four sizes of the looms because she thinks she still has her mother's four by four somewhere back home. I hope she finds it but if not, she knows our address. What I enjoy the most is having weavers come in and share their projects and their enthusiasm for the loom and weaving. We talk about using graph paper to work up designs and the fact that we can be creative and not need to always follow a pattern someone else had written. I find that quilters are very adept at designing and really like to work with the rectangular shapes of our looms.

Do you remember the blue/black and white scarf I shared with you last week? If not, go back to my last blog and check it out. I am taking it with me when I go to Cincinnati this next week and hopefully finish it. I have decided to add a bit of color, red of course, to it. Will have the completed scarf in next week's blog.

We also have a scarf book in stock now that is called, Scarf Style by Pam Allen of Interweave Knits. I know, they are meant for knitters but on page 43 and on is a scarf that I think could work with our two by six looms very well. It is comprised of long strips of different colored yarn. They have evened used bobbles to decorate the stripes. I know that we can do this and that is my next project going with me to Cincy. See what you think and let me know.

When in Cincy I know that Barb, my daughter-in-law, will take me shopping and we will hit a yarn shop or two. I was in Findlay this week, my daughter, Denise, and granddaughter, Ashley, took me up to visit other family members. If you like meatloaf sandwiches, stop in at the Fern on Sandusky St. and get one. They are great. We drove by houses we had lived in so Ashley could see them again. She had not been up there since her grandfather died and I moved to Columbus. Her favorite house, the one she most remembers on Circle Drive, still looks much the same. I had meant to go out to the cemetery to see if any cleanup needed to be done but completely forgot it. Oh well, next time.

The condo is clean thanks to Denise and Kierstin helping us out though I still need to do a little laundry, Doreen will finish that on Monday. She will be teaching at ITT this year with evening classes but will be at the shop during the day. Thankfully, Linda and Lynne will still be here for us, too. Doreen has asked me to teach her how to weave with the small looms so if I am not here she or Linda could help with teaching it. Later today that will happen.

I hope that I haven't bored you with my rambling and I promise to share some projects with you next week. Joy and peace, God bless us all. Elaine

Scarves, Scarves, Scarves

Here it is Saturday and I am just getting my act together. Yesterday I was finishing putting some ideas together for scarves to show you. They are fun and fairly quick to do, plus the weather (believe it or not) will soon be here when we will want them either for ourselves or to give as gifts. A couple of them are just to give you an idea of how to do them and though I used wools in most of them really other yarn could work and give good results. Please feel free to come or phone for help in doing yours.

The scarf that I included as my favorite was made from JoJoLand Melody and doubled to weave with. I like the way it drapes when put around the neck and the little lapel. It would be great in alpaca, sooo soft.

Speaking of coming in, this Friday we will be watching a movie, Marley and Me, and serving popcorn. Of course we knit, crochet, weave or whatever. The massage last night was a big hit and Lisa will be back again. She has an office right across from us. One nice thing about weaving is that it can be done while talking, eating and watching TV, etc . If you have an idea of what might be a fun activity for Friday night don't hesitate to tell us.

We have several pattern books for Weavettes in the shop now and they are great fun to look at but not too many of the patterns would work today. There is one that shows using crochet to join the squares to create items. A couple of them are rather cool. You can also go into the internet at eLoomaNation and see some of these on a pdf. Our friend Janet sent me a booklet, which is in very good condition, from a dump in Montana. Thanks, Janet for thinking of us.

The blue/black and white scarf would be very smart or in school colors would be effective. It is so easy to come up with ways to make these scarves your own design.

I am still trying to get the weaving pattern books from Buxton Brooks and hopefully they will be in the next week or two. We could set down and discuss a pattern or two that you might be interested in and I could show you how to do it. I cannot make copies to hand out to you. What is nice about the book is that it has the directions for every size of loom you own.

It is now time to open shop and really start our day though we have been at it since eight. Today we will be focused on watching the PGA on the computer and looking forward to seeing how Tiger and VJ deal with one another. At least we can watch the last couple of hours on the TV at home tonight. Go Tiger!

Have a great week and God Bless your activities, Elaine

The Melba Shawl

Guess what?, there is a pattern in this week's blog offering and it is similar to the shawl I have in the shop. This is written for use of the four by six loom. You can see the half division of the pattern which would permit you to actually put a couple of extra rows in the middle at the same level then turn the second half to make a different type of shawl. Can you see that? If you are interested in this or other patterns, stop in and let me work with you and your idea.

I also am sharing with you a picture of my newly pieced purse before the felting of it. I intend to do that this weekend and will have it in next week. It was basically made of odds and ends that I had woven when trying out new yarns or using up leftovers. It is fun to see what comes of it.

The last picture is of something called a "humbug." I had seen only knitted humbugs, both small, pincushion size, and larger for pillows. Since it is no more than two squares joined on three sides, stuffed and then pinched to join for the rhomboid shape, I could do it with two woven squares. For the small ones I used the two by two loom and they are being hung from the Norfolk pine tree we have in the shop. The larger ones are pincushions and are very fun to have sitting around by the chairs for customers to use when here. If you are in Powell tonight, Friday the 7th, come in the share pizza and a movie while we weave or knit.

Have a great weekend and God Bless, Elaine